Zhang Shuxia, an obstetrician in
China's Shaanxi province, told new parents that their babies had
serious diseases or developmental disorders and convinced them to
give them up for adoption. Zhang then sold the infants to human
traffickers, who would turn around and resell them for higher
profits. From the Associated Press:

In a July case, Zhang pocketed
21,600 yuan ($3,600) when she passed a baby boy to a human
trafficker, who resold the child for 59,800 yuan ($9,900) to a couple
in central China's Henan province.

"Zhang used her position as
medical personnel to fabricate reports about the infants, saying they
suffered from birth defects or diseases that were hard to cure,"
the Chinese court said in its judgement. "She abducted and sold
several new-born infants, violating professional and social ethics."

Six of the babies were rescued and
returned to their parents, but one infant—a girl—died.

Zhang's was sentenced to death with a
two-year reprieve. In China, death sentences with two-year reprieves
are usually commuted to life imprisonment.